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Mary Ellis has written ten bestselling novels set in the Amish community. Before "retiring" to write full-time, Mary taught school and worked as a sales rep for Hershey Chocolate. Living in Harmony, book one of her last series won the 2012 Lime Award for Excellence in Amish Fiction. Love Comes to Paradise won the 2013 Lime Award. An Amish Miracle, a collection of novellas, released in December from Harper Collins. She is currently working on a three-book series of historical romances set during the Civil War. The Quaker and the Rebel released January 1st. Book two, The Lady and the Officer will release this summer, both from Harvest House.
Reviewed by Karen Pirnot for Readers' Favorite
If you love "feel good" stories, the collection, An Amish Miracle, will surely brighten your day. Beth Wiseman, Ruth Reid, and Mary Ellis have combined their talents to create three stories about Amish life that appears to be one fluid tale of everyday problems in a closely-knit community. In "Always in My Heart," Mary Ellis presents the dilemma of Hope and Stephen Bowman who have three daughters. Hope is about to deliver and she prays for a baby boy who will assist her husband with the running of the farm. When Hope delivers a fourth girl, she is haunted with dreams of the baby boy she gave up for adoption when getting pregnant at the age of sixteen.
"Always His Provision" by Ruth Reid features a character in the above story, widowed Rosa Hostetler who longs for the child she was never able to conceive. Her husband died in a barn fire attempting to save his neighbor Adam and Adam now feels the responsibility of caring for Rosa. Because she has no income other than that from the sale of her eggs, Rosa gradually moves into a position of having to give up her farm due to overdue taxes. Adam attempts to help but his kindly gestures are pushed away by a proud Rosa.
"Always Beautiful" by Beth Wise addresses a problem which is plentiful in current society in general. Becky has been overweight for as long as she can remember. When she starts a strict diet in order to become the woman of her dreams, Becky attracts the attention of the handsome Matt and she focuses on superficial things uncommon in the world of the Amish. Loving the attention she receives, Becky begins to imagine a different kind of life for herself.
All three stories feature issues common in everyday life, no matter the religion or culture. The stories are tastefully and respectfully done such that the reader is absorbed, learning personal lessons along the way. I loved the book for the flow from one story to the next and I encourage the writers to get together again for even more "feel good" stories for their readers.
